A Shepherd's Tale
by mamamashedpotatoes
Summary: Amelia Shepherd is the daughter of surgeon royalty. That means she'll get whatever she wants, right? What happens when you are at the top of your class at Harvard then your life takes a turn for the worse. Will she manage?
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's Note: Hello. So, this is the first story I've ever "seriously" written. This is my first time, so please don't freak out over grammar mistakes I may have made. I can't promise a normal uploading time. I'm just writing for fun and I want to update as I go. This story is based off Amelia Shepherd from Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice, but with my own spin on things. It's supposed to take place pre medical school. Before she meets the love of her life. Or so she thought. . Thank you so much for taking time to read this and please comment anything you think about it. (Preferably nice, but whatever :P) I love constructive criticism! :)**_

It felt so weird seeing my old house again. It's been about 8 years. My parents sent me to some boarding school for the 'academically gifted' and I haven't seen them since. My school had visiting periods once a week for parents to check on their kids but mine never came. Oh well, I'm used to them not being in my life very much. Ever since I was little, I was basically independent. By age 4, I was making my own dinner, I cleaned after myself, and I was basically by myself in general. But I'm thankful for it - I wouldn't be who I am today if I were babied since birth. Both my parents are "famous" surgeons and that's what I've been raised to believe I would be. Don't get me wrong, I love the thought of it, saving people - it all sounds great. But it would be nice to choose for myself. My three sisters and one brother are all in medical school and I'll be attending next year. I'll be going to Harvard for about 3 years, then I'll study at John Hopkins. Yup. I have my life all planned out. Or so I thought I did.

Whether I wanted it or not, the next year of my life changed drastically. I am a sophomore at Harvard. I have a couple of friends - April Kepner, Jackson Avery, and Ryan Kerrigan, in case you were curious. Actually, lately Ryan and I have been getting close. I think I'm starting to fall for him. I mean, he's really nice and funny. He seems loyal. Plus, he's not hard on the eyes either (like not all). My friends and I are not the type to do everything together, though Jackson and April are together romantically, but other than that, we just do homework and hang out with each other every once and awhile. At the moment, we're working on a project for our Anatomy class. We have to build a realistic version of the human digestive system using whatever we want. So, I decided it would be fun (and easy) to use play-doh. We plan to go out and buy one of those squishy top halves of the body. Not to sound arrogant, but Ryan and I are the top in our class at Harvard, so I know our project will do good. I have a gpa of 4.0 and Ryan has a 3.98, so you can say we're both pretty ahead of others.

It was the next day and I was sitting on my bed reading my Chemistry book preparing for my quiz tomorrow. I hate this class - it's super boring and I've already learned what my professor is teaching me. In a moment of procrastination, I check my phone.

"Hey" messaged Ryan

"Hi" I responded

"Wyd rn?" he asked

"Studying for the Chemistry Quiz."

"Wanna study together?"

"Sure, where?" I questioned.

"Coffee Shop?" he said, referring to the Starbucks on campus.

"Sure, I'm heading down now."

"Ok."

When I got to Starbucks, Ryan was sitting in a booth reading a book. I couldn't tell what book by just the top view. "Hi stranger, whatcha reading?" I asked walking into his view.

"Fifty Shades of Grey." He joked

"I love that book, it's so inspirational." I snorted.

"I know right!"

"I'm gonna go grab a drink." I said.

"Venti Iced White Chocolate Mocha?" he asked.

"How did you know?" I taunted. Like, I don't order the same thing everyday.

"I already got you one." He pointed to a cup adjacent him.

"Omg, thank you!" I blushed. He really is starting to like me. I feel like a teenager with a crush.

"So, I've already done the study guide for Chemistry." he said as I sat down.

"I thought the point of this was to do it together?"

"Yeah, well, I may or may not have just wanted to see you." he said not breaking eye contact, sporting a soft smile.

"Oh, what do you mean?" I questioned, as I looked down at my turned off phone, blushing.

"I like you."

"I like you too, but what does that have to do with anything."

"No, I REALLY like you Amelia."

OH.

We both sat in silence for about 5 minutes and before he said, "I knew I shouldn't have said anything. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, I like you too." I said back to him as I grabbed his hands.

"Really?" he quirkily said back. His face was of one of shock - like he thought I would reject him. Yeah right.

"I've liked you for a while but I thought it would ruin our friendship." I told him.

"Me too, I hope we can make this work."

Ryan and I ended up talking all night until we got tired and headed back to our dorms. Ryan asked if I wanted to hang out some more and told me he had something he wanted me to see in his dorm. I agreed and we headed up to his dorm.

Ryan told me to wait outside his door while he gets it ready, to which I obliged. After he shut the door, I heard feet shuffling inside. I think I heard something fall to the floor and what sounded like "God Dammit!" muttered under his breath. What's going on in there?

My curiosity getting the best of me, I opened the door a little to see what was happening inside. I saw him carrying a clear plastic baggy full of needles to his dresser. When he turned around, I closed the door quickly.

"Omg, he better have not seen me, shit shit shit. What was that?! What were the needles for? Is he a druggie?" Thoughts went racing in my mind and I couldn't get them to stop.

When he opened the door, he was holding a stuffed bear with the words, "I LOVE YOU" written on it. He must've not seen me. He's acting so normal - what even happened? Maybe I didn't see what I thought I saw? But I did. But what if I didn't? Oh my god, what if I did? I looked up at him and said, "I think I'm gonna puke." as I ran to the bathroom down the hall and puked my Iced Mocha out like the scene from the exorcist. Welp.

 _ **Author's Note: I'd like to give a big thanks to hahahopelove for helping me edit and for pushing me to publish this. If you guys like The Originals - check hahahopelove's stories out on . She's awesome. Again, thanks for reading!**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Author's Note: Thank you guys so much for reading!**_

Ryan rushed in after me, grabbed my arm, and sat down next to me. I screamed at him to get out, but he didn't listen. He just sat there with me through the whole thing. He truly is a good person. Plus, it might've not even been his needles. Right? Maybe they were his roomates. Yeah, probably, right? Oh no, not on this again. The only way I can know is if I just let it all out, well, again.

"I saw you carrying needles." I abruptly said.

He had a horrified look on his face but immediately said, "Oh, those are my roomates."

"I knew it!" I thought. See nothing to worry about. Or so I hope. Oh God, why don't I trust him. I've known him for more than a year. I know him. Or at least I thought I knew him.

"Why does he have them?" I asked him.

"I'm not sure, he said he uses them for class." Ryan replied.

"Oh...So, uh, can we leave the bathroom now?" I said looking around, apparently done with my puke session.

"Yeah, lets get out of here."

We got back to his dorm and out the corner of my eye, I get a glimpse of a little baggy with a white powder in it. But before I could look again, Ryan had kicked it under his roomates bed. "His roommate must be a druggie" I thought. That's obviously it. It has to be. I'm too tired to get into anything too serious right now.

Ryan and I layed on his one person excuse for a bed that the dorm provided us with. Most people just brought an extra cushion but he didn't. The lights turned off after a while because they're motion detected and we were lying still. Neither of us said anything for a long time, content in silence.

"Goodnight, Amelia." Ryan said mid yawn.

"Goodnight, Ryan." I responded while turning onto my side. Guess I'm sleeping here tonight.

I wake up and Ryan's roommate is standing at a mirror across the room. He must be getting ready for class. As I should be too. "Where's Ryan?" I thought.

"He already went to class - said he had an early Sociology test today." his roommate answered with

"I said that out loud?" I thought. Then, said "Oh, cool." to the roomie. It was awkward silence from there. Him rummaging around, me just laying in Ryan's bed.

"Listen, I know this is a weird question, but I have to ask." I said, sitting up.

"Ok? Shoot." he shot back. Ha, shoot. Ironic, considering he might be a druggie.

"Why do you have so many needles? And that baggy under your bed, what's that?"

He had a confused look on his face for a while but finally replied with, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

I wouldn't have believed him but his face was such utter confusion. I don't think he could've made that up. "Oh." I said. God, I practically accused of being a drug addict. I'm terrible."But then who is doing drugs in here?" I thought. Couldn't be Ryan. Right? Why don't I believe myself?

"Can you check under your bed for a little clear baggy?" I asked.

"Sure?" roomie questioned back.

He lifted up his sheets that were draped off of the side of the bed. He pulled out the only thing from under there, which was a pair of what looked to be running shoes.

"Thanks, sorry." I said.

"No problem, but if I may ask, did you see drugs in here last night? What brought you to ask me about needles?" he asked

"Shit." I thought. I may have totally ratted out my boyfriend for something he might've not done. "I thought I did, but I must've been tired." God, I'm literally terrible.

"Ok, as long as there wasn't. I don't want to get expelled because of-" he stopped.

Ryan walked in and we both looked at him. "What's up guys?" he said grinning.

"Just asked where you were." I said.

"Welp, here I am." he replied. "Want to get out of here?"

"Sure, let me grab my jacket." I said while looking around at where I put it.

"We can go to the library to study if you want."

"Sure." Anything to get me out of this dorm room.

We walked to the library from his dorm when I realized I never actually showered. I fell asleep last night before I even thought of it. Oh god, what if he thinks I smell bad. I probably smell like the inside of a public restroom after the all you can eat Mexican buffet. I got shivers just thinking about it.

We made it to the library and he immediately says, "I have to use the bathroom." and walked away.

"Oook. I'll look around."

I started looking at the science books - shocker, I know. I got really into a book titled "The Great Mysteries of Science" and couldn't put it down. Then, I realized I had finished it, a 427 page book. I looked at my watch and realized what time it was. 12:38, holy shit, has it really been almost 3 hours? Where the fuck is Ryan? Did he really stand me up? This wasn't even a date, we were supposed to study… again.

I decided to go to the bathroom to check if he was there. Who knows. Maybe he fell asleep on the toilet? I got to the bathroom and knocked on the door. No response. I knocked again. Silence. I decided to open the bathroom door and peek in. I opened it a crack and saw that someone was actually passed out on the floor. Damn, what a scene. I was about to just yell something to wake him up but I realized it was Ryan. Oh my god! Hold on, why is Ryan passed out on the floor of a library bathroom? Has he been in here for 3 hours?

I went closer to him to have a look and noticed something peeking out beside him. I went to take a closer look and noticed a needle sticking out of his inner elbow. Holy shit, he does do drugs! It was his drugs last night! Did he overdose? Holy shit. I already said that, but seriously holy shit. I ran out of the bathroom and called 911 to come help. I went back in there and sat next to him. What if the police find the needle? Will they arrest him for drug use? Omg, what have I done?

In a moment of panic, I took the needle out of his arm and threw it into the toilet. I went to flush it when I noticed a bulge in his pocket. I checked his pockets and I could not believe my eyes. Plastic baggies with white powder. Is this cocaine? I don't know what that looks like. I took everything out of his pockets and stuffed them in mine. I flushed the needle, and left the bathroom.

When the ambulance got there they asked me what had happened and I told them I wish I knew. I said, "I noticed he had been in the bathroom for a while so I went to check on him." Then, that I had found him lying there unconscious. I exited the library by saying I had to get to class even though my morning classes had already ended. I just wanted to leave and get my drug smuggling ass out of the public.

The next day I went to go visit Ryan in the hospital. He had to get his stomach pumped. He hadn't even woken up yet, but the doctors told me he was stable. I asked the nurse if she knew what caused the sudden fainting and she said that there was an abnormal amount of liquids in his system. That there were so many different types of liquids that they couldn't identify them. She said that he's either been doing drugs or has a kidney infection. I started to laugh hysterically. "Of course my boyfriends a druggie." Sure know how to pick em', don't I?

Ryan was wheeled into his room where I awaited him. He finally woke up. As soon as the doctor left the room, I yelled at him. "WHAT THE FUCK! DRUGS! REALLY!"

"Keep your voice down, please." he whimpered.

"Keep my voice down? Are you fucking serious." I snapped back.

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry isn't going to cut it, jackass. I had to smuggle drugs because of you."

"You're the one who took them out of my pocket? Oh my god." he sighed.

"Don't be so relieved. I could turn you in right now. I should turn you in right now."

He kept quiet.

"I won't though. You're lucky." I said while looking down at my feet.

When he didn't say anything, I started to walk out the door when he said, "I love you, Amelia. I really do. I'm sorry for everything." I felt bad, but he was the one who decided to shoot up. Ugh. Why do I care about him? I walked over to his bed and kissed him on his forehead.

"Goodnight, Ryan."

The next day in class, all I could think about was Ryan. Professor Hopkins called on me in class to answer a really easy question and I looked back at him, dumbfounded. I can't think about such little things like my human anatomy class when my boyfriend is shooting up who knows what.

After class, I went to the hospital to see Ryan again. Since I already knew what room he was in, I didn't need to stop at the front desk. I went to the 3rd floor and over to the B hallway. He was in room 243B. I peeked my head in his room to see if he was asleep but all I saw was an empty bed. I opened the door all the way and noticed that the room had just been cleaned. That means he has left the hospital, whether that's dead or alive I'm not sure. I asked the nurse on his floor where he went and she said that he left earlier against doctors orders. He had signed a paper saying he was ok with leaving even though it's not what a doctor would advise.

Great, now I have to find my druggie boyfriend who's currently not even supposed to be out of the hospital. And to add the the already giant pile of shit, my mom's calling me. I know it must be important, she never calls. She usually has an assistant write me, or shoot me a text. I answered the phone and listened to my mom cry hysterically.

"What happened? Mom? Are you ok?" I said frantically.

"He's been shot honey." she whispered.

"Mom, who's been shot?"

"Your father!" she screamed.

She explained to me what had happened. They had been grocery shopping when two robbers came into the place. They immediately noticed the expensive watch on my dad's wrist. They asked him for it and he resisted. He told them that it was his grandfather's watch - it means a great sentiment to him. They shot him, took the watch, and fled when they heard sirens.

Seriously? Why must everything bad happen at once? First Ryan, now my dad. Are you kidding me? I broke down crying in the hospital parking lot when all of a sudden a hand grabs my shoulder. "Are you ok?" said the voice. It sounded familiar, but not recognizable. I turned around to find Ryan.

"You don't look to good." he says.

"Neither do you, Mr. Druggie." I said wiping my tears.

"Hey, it's Sir Druggie to you." he giggled back.

"How can you laugh about something like this?"

"If you joke about it, it hurts less."

"I wish that helped me."

"Do you want something to numb the pain?" he said.

"NO! I'm not taking your drugs."

"They're not drugs. My doctor gave them to me. They're supposed to help you calm down and relax."

"Really? Do they work?"

"Definitely." he said while handing me the bottle.

"I guess I can just take one." I said.

I took one of his pills and instantly felt more relaxed. The voices telling me everything is going to shit got quieter and I can hear myself breathe again.

 _ **Author's Note: I'd like to give a big thanks to hahahopelove for helping me edit again. If you guys like The Originals - check hahahopelove's stories out on . She's awesome. Again, thanks for reading!**_


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